A Norfolk native, Hayes joined the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics in 1952 and was there when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was organized a few years later.

In 1969, Hayes became director of the Advanced Aerospace Projects Office at NASA-Langley, and in 1971 he was named executive assistant for planning in the office of the director for Center Development and External Affairs at Langley.

A year later, he was named director of the Manned Space Technology Office at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for the development of advanced technology requirements for the Space Shuttle, space stations, planetary spacecraft and other projects.

Hayes retired in 1979.

He is survived by his wife, Mildred McWilliams Hayes, and a son and a daughter.